Modular fence element for orchards and/or gardens

ABSTRACT

A modular fence element is designed to delimit the surface of orchards and/or gardens to prevent the entry of animals that includes a fence body having at its base at least one driving element for its insertion into the ground and on its lateral sides it presents fastening elements, for connecting with another modular fence element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a modular fence element designed to delimit the surface of orchards and gardens to prevent the entry of animals.

Currently, multiple types of fence elements are used to delimit the access to gardens, being the wooden palisade fences and wire fences the two most common fence elements.

Wooden fences consist of a single row of wooden picket arranged in such a way that they delimit the perimeter of interest adapting to the landform of the terrain. The main drawback of this type of fence is that the pickets are arranged in a way that they leave a gap between them, so the animals can easily penetrate the perimeter of interest. Another drawback of this type of wooden fences is that the material deteriorates rapidly due to atmospheric agents and needs to be maintained and repaired frequently.

The second type of fence used to delimit an area of horticulture are the metal barriers type wire mesh. This type of fence mainly has two drawbacks. The first drawback is the difficulty of installing this type of fence. The second drawback of this type of fence is that it is not aesthetically acceptable for urban settings, contrary to the wood fences which have a more appealing appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to disclose a modular fence element which comprises a body fence having at its base at least a driving element to insert it into the ground and on its lateral sides having fasten elements to join together with another modular fence.

The modular fence of the present invention allows to easily delimit the perimeter of an orchard and/or garden for its protection from animal entrance by simple assembly of various fences elements and their insertion into the ground, without need of using specific tools. The fence element of the present invention also has an appealing appearance for their use in urban areas and a great resistance to atmospheric agents, consequently having multiple advantages over conventional fence elements.

Preferably, the body of the modular fence element of the present invention has a laminar geometry, that is, it is essentially flat; its dimensions in height and width are notably greater than its thickness. The geometry of the body of the modular fence element can have two lateral sides or larger sides, two smaller sides and a base. The two larger sides are disposed substantially perpendicular to the ground and the two smaller sides are disposed substantially parallel to the ground. The base is contiguous to both lateral sides.

Preferably, the driving element of the modular fence element of the present invention has a flat tooth or right-angled triangle geometry so that the fence element can be easily inserted into a suitable ground. More preferably, the modular fence element of the present invention has two driving elements at the base of the fence body. The insertion of the fence element in a suitable ground, by thrusting the at least one driving element, allows the fence element to be easily self-supported. The resistance of the fence element of the present invention can be increased, preferably, by reinforcing the driving elements, for example, with a thin metal bar placed along its longitudinal axis.

Preferably, the fasten elements of the modular fence element of the present invention are hinge type. This makes possible to join two fence elements together maintaining the mobility of a fence element with respect to its contiguous, thus allowing creating a fence with changes of direction. More preferably, the hinge type fasten elements of the fence element of the present invention are orifice or protruding type. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the body of the fence element contains on each of its lateral sides at least one fasten element. In a more preferred embodiment, the body of the fence element contains, on each of its lateral sides, two fasten elements, one of a protruding type and the other of an orifice type. The protruding and orifice type fasten elements are conjugated, that is the protruding type element can be introduced into the orifice type element. This way, a protruding type element of a fence element can be introduced into an orifice type element of an adjacent fence element allowing the hinged union of two fence elements. The position and the number of fasten elements present on each one of the lateral sides of the body of the fence element of the present invention may vary depending on the characteristics of the terrain in order to reinforce the union between fence elements if the terrain landform requires it.

The present invention also discloses a modular fence element which comprises a fence body that has fasten elements on only one of its lateral sides, for its union with another modular fence element, and which lacks of the driving element at the base of the fence body, in order not to be introduced into the ground and to act as entry/exit gate to the perimeter delimited by the fence elements joined together.

The present invention also discloses an orchard and/or garden perimeter which comprises at least one modular fence element according to the present invention.

Another object of the present invention is a method of protecting an orchard and/or garden against the entry of animals which comprises the following steps:

-   -   a. Disposing of a plurality of modular fence elements, according         to the present invention;     -   b. inserting the first modular fence element into the ground by         thrusting;     -   c. joining a second modular fence element to the first modular         fence element using the fasten elements;     -   d. driving the second modular fence element into the ground next         to the first modular fence element to which it is joined;     -   e. proceeding successively according to the preceding steps with         the rest of the modular fence elements until the perimeter fence         of the orchard and/or garden is completed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, some drawings of a modular fence element according to the present invention are appended by way of non-limiting example.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a modular fence element according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of two modular fence elements next to each other before their union by hinge type fasten elements.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of two modular fence elements next to each other joined by hinge type fasten elements.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of several modular fence elements joined to one another with fasten elements delimiting a square perimeter.

FIG. 5 shows a view in perspective of an embodiment of the present invention in which several modular fence elements are joined together by the fasten elements and inserted into the ground limiting the perimeter of an orchard and/or garden.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an example of an embodiment of the modular fence element of the present invention. The modular fence element (1) of the present invention comprises a fence body (2) of essentially flat or laminar geometry having at its base two driving elements (3) of flat tooth geometry which allow their insertion into the ground. The driving elements of the fence element of the example have, each of them, a thin metal bar along its longitudinal axis (3 a) and (3 b) to increase the resistance of the fence element. The body of the fence element of this particular example has a grid (4) that allows the passage of air, light, etc. The body of the fence element of this example also has, on each of the lateral sides, two hinge type fasten elements (5) and (6) for the union with the conjugated hinge type fasten elements of another modular fence element of the same or similar characteristics. Said fasten elements, one of the protruding type (5) and the other of the orifice type (6) present in the body (2) of the fence element, also allow the rotation of one fence element with respect to another, so that the profile of the perimeter can be adapted to the landform of the terrain.

The fence element of the present invention can be manufactured as a solid element or a hollow element, as a piece or by joining two or more pieces. The fence element of the present invention can be manufactured in a wide variety of materials. As an example, the material used for the manufacturing of the modular fence element of the present invention is plastic, metal, concrete, chipboard, treated wood to withstand atmospheric agents, etc. This material may derived from recycling other materials and/or from ecological materials. A fence element according to the present invention manufactured with a plastic material can provide lightness and resistance thereof. The fence element of the present invention can also have different colors, such as green, red, blue, yellow, violet, etc. It is also possible to add decorative elements to the body of the modular fence element.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show two fence elements (1) and (1′) according to the present invention placed next to each other. Each one of the fence elements has two fasten elements on each of its lateral sides. FIG. 2 shows the position of the two fence elements before their union by using the hinge type elements (5) and (6′). FIG. 3 shows the position of the fence elements once they have been joined together by the insertion of one protruding type fasten element (5) of one of the fence elements into the orifice type fasten element of the adjoining fence element and vice versa.

Other well-known fasten elements for fence elements are also possible.

FIG. 4 shows an example of embodiment of a fencing completed (100) using modular fence elements according to the present invention. For that purpose the union of several fence components using the hinge type fasten elements is required. FIG. 4 also shows a modular fence element (10) according to the present invention which only has fasten elements on one of its lateral sides and which lacks of driving elements, such it can be used as an entrance/exit door to the fenced perimeter.

FIG. 5 shows an example of embodiment of the present invention, similar to the example of FIG. 4, once it has been installed in the terrain delimiting an orchard and/or garden (101).

Although the invention has been set out and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it should be understood that these do not limit the invention, and that it is possible to alter many structural or other details that may prove obvious to persons skilled in the art after interpreting the subject matter disclosed in the present description, claims and drawings. Therefore, the scope of the present invention includes any variant or equivalent that could be considered covered by the broadest scope of the following claims. 

1. Modular fence element which comprises a fence body comprising fastening elements on lateral sides for connecting with another modular fence element and at least one driving element at a base of the fence body.
 2. Modular fence element, according to claim 1, comprising at least two driving elements at the base of the fence body.
 3. (canceled)
 4. Modular fence element, according to claim 1, wherein the fence body has a substantially flat geometry.
 5. Modular fence element, according to claim 1, wherein the driving element at the base of the fence body has a flat tooth or right-angled triangle geometry.
 6. Modular fence element, according to claim 1, comprising two driving elements at the base of the fence body.
 7. Modular fence element, according to claim 1, wherein the at least one driving element has a metal bar placed along a longitudinal axis.
 8. Modular fence element, according to claim 1, wherein the fastening elements are of the hinge type hinged.
 9. Modular fence element, according to claim 8, wherein the hinged fastening elements are composed of conjugates protruding and orifices for the union to another fence element.
 10. Modular fence element which comprises a fence body comprising lateral sides, and fastening elements on only one of the lateral sides, for connecting with another modular fence element and the fence body is free of a driving element at a base of the fence element.
 11. Perimeter of orchard and/or garden which comprises at least one modular fence element according to claim
 1. 12. Method of protection of an orchard and/or garden against entry of animals comprising the following steps: a. providing a plurality of modular fence elements comprising a fence body comprising fastening elements on lateral sides for connecting with another modular fence element and at least one driving element at a base of the fence body; b. inserting the first modular fence element into the ground by thrusting; c. joining a second modular fence element to the first modular fence element using the fastening elements; d. driving the second modular fence element into the ground next to the first modular fence element to which the second modular fence element is joined; e. proceeding successively according to the preceding steps with the plurality of modular fence elements until a perimeter fence of the orchard and/or garden is completed. 